“The 16 metre long ‘Gateway’ resembles a meeting house and is built from 255 pieces of laminated pine. It was originally conceived by Stevens Lawson Architects for the Venice Architecture Biennale but was unable to be built because of a lack of funding. “We’d given up on it,” said Gary Lawson. “It was sitting on the website as one of those near misses and I posted it on Instagram actually and someone saw it and off it went.”Sculpture on the Gulf, a two-yearly event featuring sculptures on the Waiheke Island headland, arranged with Unitec for the work to be built by students.Unitec Construction Dean Renee Davies said students were “dead keen” to get involved. “It’s just perfect for us because it links together all our different disciplines, from architecture right through to engineering and construction.”
The piece will welcome visitors to the Sculpture on the Gulf exhibition, which opens to the public on Friday and runs until February 19.More than 50,000 people are expected to attend.”